Review: Dexter - Slack Tide

(S04E07) "We all have secrets, Debs. Some of them shouldn't be found out." - Dexter to Debra

While preparing this post, I had to double check the time stamp on this week's episode because "7" just seemed too early. It literally felt like we were more episodes into the season. I even looked out my window to make sure the Earth had not been sent into some kind of time paradox where time runs backwards, the sun comes out at night, and golf is America's most watched sport.

Then when I looked over my notes for the recent episode, I realized why. "Slack tide" indeed.

This week's episode did have some very great moments that showed glimmers of the show's glory days, but the rest got bogged down in the same sidetracks that have dragged the rest of the season down with it. The plots may be in different pieces, but they are all in the same garbage bag as they float through the Gulf Stream.

The scenes with the Trinity Killer, now unmasked as Arthur Phillips Mitchell, remind me of the Dexter of yore, the early days that were filled with thrilling and entertaining episodes that grabbed hold of your eyes and pulled your body as close to the screen as it could get without completely yanking you off the couch. Even the angle with the murdering model photographer was enthralling and gripping, especially the great shock ending it gave Dexter and his loyal fans, as it puts the whole "Code of Harry" into total scrutiny. This is the Dexter I remember and love: gritty, gory, gripping and generally "good."

And Dexter finally makes a kill, his first one since he sliced up the ultra evil cop bitch in the "Dexter Takes a Holiday" episode almost a month ago. Dexter's To-Do list is more disorganized than mine.

The rest just form this crooked mesh of twisted plot lines that have no bearing on anything yet and are in danger of not becoming interesting once they do. That sense of suspension of disbelief was all but shattered when Dexter officially made an enemy of Quinn by out-and-out threatening to rat him out if his girlfriend reporter did a big feature piece on his sister. It just felt like very weak glue to hold together pieces that don't seem to fit in the first place.

And now we've discovered that Quinn has replaced Doakes as Dexter's new butt thorn, simply because Dexter made an idle threat. Quinn has no reason to suspect Dexter of anything other than being a rat or an IA snitch, so it's like watching Doakes track Dexter but without the thrills, tension or interest.

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13 Comments

Arthur seems on Edge. You heard it first here: I dont think he kills in threes. I think his cycle is not yet complete. He kills in fours. Number four is always neatly packaged in a coffin which he burries. Trinity should be called quadrinity or whatever.i am looking forward to the standoff between dexter and arthur next week. cant wait!

Just asking the obvious, but who is that coffin for, that Trinity was making? He never buries his victims, so is he going to bury his sister's ashes or something? Making it for Dexter wouldn't make sense, unless he knows more about Dexter/Kyle than he lets on.

Again, Dexter's not listening to Harry, and it's going to blow up in his face.

Why the random plot line of showcasing the fighting neighbors? Maybe Rita will have an affair with that neighbor, and then she and Dexter will break up and he'll be alone again.

I cringe when I see Dexter and Quinn together. I feel like Quinn will end up the same as Doakes, somehow.

I see what you are saying about Quinn and Doakes, but I think the dynamic is different. Doakes was actively trailing Dexter and was trying to prove he was bad. Quinn is just trying to intimidate him; the scene at the club where Quinn shows up and Dexter was there was just coincidence. Quinn was following the photographer, not Dexter. But I do see this coming to ahead and Quinn investigating Dexter. There is a parallel there with this and last season though, it looks like once again Dexter will put his secret of being a serial killer in the hands of someone else; at least this time it is another serial killer

Quinn was absolutely following Dexter. When the clubgoer asks if he is Quinn, he replies in the affirmative, then quickly realizes Dexter isn't at the bar anymore. He clearly says something like "This lab geek just f***** ditched me?"

I actually disagree with the idea that there isn't tension or thrill with Dexter being tracked by Quinn. Dexter verbalized that he has blackmail against Quinn. Quinn, who has been a problem from the beginning, is manipulative, controlling and mysterious. He's shown his random temper and short fuse on touchy subjects and I think this new relationship is intriguing and VERY exciting. Plus Dexter hasn't been on top of his game all season, now with Deb digging deeper into trinity Dexter can't kill him. With trinity off the market as a kill, and Quinn watching his every other move, Dexter will get anxious about killing. I have a feeling he will make a VERY bad judgment in episodes to come.

But I agree that this episode left me clutching the tv screen and screaming at the episode as if they can hear me.

ps. Can anyone tell me why almost every character was agitated and ornery this week?

I'm actually enjoying this season. Its probably going to culminate with trinity trying to kill deb in a bathtub (the sister), rita falling from a rooftop (the mother), and bludgeoning dexter with a hammer (the father).